Do what is just and right...

The prophet Jeremiah warns Judah of God's coming punishment, and he urges them to, "Do what is just and right..." (Jeremiah 22:3). The prophet goes on to explain what that means:

• Rescue from the hand of his oppressor the one who has been robbed.
  
• Do no wrong or violence to the alien, fatherless, or widow.
• Do not shed innocent blood.
• Defend the cause of the poor and needy.

God expects his people to treat others as though they matter, as creatures created in the image of God. But history shows that people in power nearly always abuse it. It can be official power or informal power, but people always tend to treat their subordinates poorly.

That's why it's so rare to have a really good boss. It's why corruption always seeps into government. It's why corporations can't be trusted to put health and safety above profits.

I heard a man on the radio today describing his experience growing up in the Soviet Union. People in authority could never be trusted. In fact, he said, Russians can't imagine being treated fairly by the one who has power over them. They expect power to be used against them at every turn.

People matter. Even those who are powerless and needy matter. God expects his followers to treat all people with respect, especially those who are on the margins of society--the alien, the fatherless, the widow, the poor. It is so simple, but so hard to live. We need the Spirit of Jesus in us to do what is just and right. We can't do it on our own. He has to change us inwardly, and that is a life-long process.

Giving Crap to the Poor

I just read a blog saying that we should stop giving our crap to the poor.  Okay, let's give them our best.  I like the idea of giving good stuff to the poor.

But what do we do with our "crap"?  I tend to use things until they are really worn out.  But sometimes, I think that someone could get some use out of them.  What do I do with these items?  Should I fill our landfill with them?  Should I burn them?  Should I keep on storing them?

I don't want to feel guilty for giving away items that could be of use to someone, even if they have a few miles on them.   If an item is truly useless, I have no problem discarding it.  But if it could really serve somebody's needs, I would like to get it to that person.  Donating it looks like the best way to make that happen.

Furthermore, some of these items could be repurposed--clothes made into quilts, hardware turned into art, tools used for wall decorations in restaurants...

Just because something is worn out doesn't mean that it is completely useless.  But we should also give our good stuff to the poor.  Even new stuff.  Giving without sacrifice is just cleaning house.

Brain Dead

The direction of public discourse and public policy is disturbing.  Ravi Zacharias says that any stigma can beat a good dogma.  Good ideas are discredited on the basis of emotional anecdotes rather than facts.  No one seems to know that appeal to pity is a logical fallacy.  Does anyone notice logical fallacies anymore?

We are moving toward a society motivated by high-minded, unexamined ideals.  Most politicians are ignorant of history and fail to consider why traditions ever began.

Helping the poor is easy.  We give them money, with strings attached.  We raise minimum wage, so that every job has good pay.  That was easy.  How’s that working for us?

Managing health care is easy.  We let the government handle it.  Oh, it’s expensive?  No problem—the government owns the printing presses.  We can make money with ink and paper.

Mass murders are getting out of hand.  We can just take guns away from everybody—except the authorities, of course.  They are good and noble.  They are such a superior breed of humanity that they have no ulterior motives.

People feel discriminated against.  Make discrimination illegal.  Now it’s against the law to have the wrong opinions about certain people.  We try people for hate crimes and determine what’s going on in their souls.

We can redefine marriage, redefine family.  We have the technology to conquer nature, so that anyone can be a parent.  We only believe in back-to-nature when it serves the right agenda.

It used to be that grownups kept the kids from doing dangerous, destructive things.  Now the kids are in charge, and there is no check on behavior.